Water jet propulsion device



Oct. 28, 1958 F. A. WEILAND WATER JET PROPULSION DEVICE Filed D80. 2, 1955 INVENTOR. Frederick A.Weilc|nd ATTY.

United f ltrates This invention relates to toy water craft for operation by a water jet which may be manually recharged with a jet water supply under pressure.

The object of the present invention is generally to provide a floatable vessel with a manually rechargeable means for storing a supply of jet water under pressure for restricted emission thereof at the bottom of the stern of the vessel.

A further object is to make a toy boat having a suitable stiff but flexible walled chamber forming the hull with a small jet opening at the bottom of the stern, so that the chamber may be partially filled by suction with water by manually squeezing the chamber and holding the opening under water while allowing the chamber to resume its normal shape and then it may be charged with air under'pressure through the flap opening and the boat may then be operated by means of the waterjet issuing from said stern opening until all the water in the chamber is exhausted, or pressure in the chamber has been relieved.

Another object is to provide the jet aperture in the stern with an axial extension, to form a nozzle for directional stability, either externally or internally of the chamber.

Other and more specific objects will become apparent in the following detailed description of one form of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figs. 1 to 4 illustrate several different configurations that may be used.

The hollow hull 20 may be formed as shown of a flexible plastic or other material which may be readily molded in such form, and which may be squeezed and will always return to its normal shape when released. An aperture 21 is provided at the bottom of the stern for emitting a jet of water 15 therefrom under pressure of air in said hull which is otherwise air tight.

Any form of air charging means may be used to supply air under pressure through the opening 21.

A nipple 1.8 may be provided at the stern in extension of the aperture 21 to give better directional stability to the water jet issuing therefrom. The nipple may be in ternal as in Figs. 2 and 3.

Many other forms of water craft will immediately suggest themselves to the craftsman not only for use as toys but to perform short hauls for lines, etc. that may need to be stretched or moved off shore, or between commercial or military craft on the water. The entire hull need not be made flexible, only a suflicient wall portion may be used for pressing to reduce the chamber in the hull about one third of its volume for the purpose of drawing in that much water into the chamber upon its release, while the aperture is held under water.

The operation of the craft is as follows:

The jet water chamber, in the present illustration it is the whole hull 20, is squeezed in one hand to reduce its atent Q l Patentedl Clot. 2%, 1 .958

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volume to about two-thirds, and the aperture 21 is held under water while the chamber is released to return to its normal shape, sucking in about one-third of its volume of water. A charge of air is then supplied through the aperture 21, and the craft may then be floated on the water turned in the direction of its desired travel. The distance the craft will cover on one charge will depend on its design and the quantity of water and air with which it is charged.

This self-propelled water toy is not limited to boats, for it may take the form of water fowl, animals, fish, submarines, etc. as long as it includes the essential flexible chamber and aperture arrangement for providing a Water jet emission in the water to propel the toy floating therein in the opposite direction.

In the case of submarines, the buoyancy of the craft may be designed to bring the craft to the surface any time before the expulsion of all the jet water from the hull.

The hull 29 could be used all by itself, and after taking on a charge of water into the hull chamber, a simple bulb pump or any other means could be applied to the nipple 18 shown in Fig. 4 to charge the hull chamber with the desired air pressure for propulsion.

Obviously many other modifications in form and structure may thus be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, as defined in the appended claims.

Examples of several different configurations to which this invention may be adapted are illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4. In Fig. l a simple hull form 20 is shown comprising a closed chamber except for the aperture 21. This represents the simplest form of the invention, since the air charge may be admitted through the same aperture that the water is sucked in for charging and emitted for propulsion, even though it may take a somewhat long time to do this because of the necessarily small size of the aperture.

The configurations 22, 23 and 24 shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 respectively, are all obviously adaptable for single chamber constructions such as shown in Fig. 1.

What is claimed is:

1. A water craft toy comprising an impervious hollow body for normally floating in water, and having a substantially horizontal bottom keel, and a substantially horizontal restricted nozzle through a submerged portion of the wall of said body at the rear of the keel adapted to emit water rearwardly from said hollow body to propel said body through the water in response to the expansion of compressed air in said hollow body, said body having limited resilient flexibility of such a nature that a suitable amount of water may be drawn in by suction through said nozzle, before charging the body with compressed air by blowing through said nozzle, said nozzle forming the only opening in said body.

2. A water craft as defined in claim 1, and a nipple extending from said aperture for directional stability of the water jet emitted therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,595,828 Fuller Aug. 10, 1926 1,673,479 Allen June 12, 1928 1,893,507 Ranney Jan. 10, 1933 2,076,428 Drudy et a1. Apr. 6, 1937 2,101,646 Gordon Dec. 7, 1937 2,511,323 Briggs et a1 June 13, 1950 2,624,975 Belding Jan. 13, 1953 

